Jonathan Hartlyn

Jonathan Hartlyn is the Kenneth J. Reckford Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, affiliated with the College of Arts & Sciences and the Department of Political Science. His expertise lies in comparative politics of Latin America, focusing on democratization, political institutions, and state-society relations. He has held administrative roles including Senior Associate Dean for Social Sciences and Global Programs (2009–2017), Department Chair, and Director of the Institute for the Study of the Americas.

Educated at Clark University (B.A.), Yale University (M.Phil., Ph.D.), Hartlyn has authored/co-authored seminal works such as The Struggle for Democratic Politics in the Dominican Republic (1998) and Latin America in the Twenty-First Century (2003). His research also explores electoral governance, constitutionalism, and political parties in Latin America.

Research interests span democratization dynamics, electoral systems, and socio-political matrices across Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Peru. Articles in journals like Comparative Political Studies and Latin American Politics & Society reflect his analytical depth. His work on executive approval dynamics and pandemic governance highlights contemporary challenges.

Awarded the Johnston Teaching Excellence Award (2010) and Robson Award (2022), Hartlyn has supervised 22 PhD dissertations and 32 MA theses. His current projects include studies on constitutionalism and the CHESLA database on Latin American political parties.